Sky & Telescope - April 2019 - 33

A FAR NORTHERN MARATHON (CONTINUED)
Object

Constellation

M18

Sgr
Binoculars

COMMENT:

M24
COMMENT:

Type

Mag(v)

Size/Sep.

RA

Dec.

OC

6.9

9′

18h 19.9m

-17° 08′

Sgr
-
Naked eye star cloud

4.6

90′

18h 16.9m

-18° 29′

M23

Sgr
COMMENT: Binoculars

OC

5.5

27′

17h 56.8m

-19° 01′

M25

Sgr
COMMENT: Binoculars

OC

4.6

32′

18h 31.6m

-19° 15′

M22

GC

5.1

32′

18h 36.4m

-23° 54′

-

90′ × 40′

18h 03.8m

-24° 23′

COMMENT:

M8
COMMENT:

Sgr
Binoculars

Sgr
EN
Naked eye or binoculars

M20

Sgr
COMMENT: Binoculars

EN

6.3

28′

18h 02.6m

-23° 02′

M21

OC

5.9

13′

18h 04.6m

-22° 30′

4.2

25′

17h 40.1m

- 32° 13′

Sco
OC
3.3
80′
Naked eye or binoculars just as it rises

17h 53.9m

- 34° 49′

Sgr
COMMENT: Binoculars
p SOUTHERN STAR CLUSTER The globular cluster M62 in Ophiuchus
is another good place to take a break. Does M62 look slightly brighter
in its southeast quadrant? It's one of the closest globulars to the center
of the Milky Way, and the distribution of its stars is being affected by
galactic tidal forces.

M6
COMMENT:

M7
COMMENT:

Sco
OC
Naked eye or binoculars

N ASA / ESA / STSCI / S. A NDERSON (UNIV ERSIT Y OF WASHINGTON) /
J. CH A N A ME (PON TIFICIA UNIV ERSIDA D CATÓLICA DE CHILE )

M28

the Sun at -14°. I detected M55 with motion and some resolution at 91× with my 8-inch Newtonian.
From Calgary at 51°N Tom Cameron recorded 104 with a
12-inch reﬂector on April 1-2, 1995. From the Prince George
Astronomical Observatory at 54°N Doug Wayland found
96 on March 16-17, 2002. He enjoyed clear skies due to an
Arctic high pressure ridge, but consider this quote: "I found
myself having to wait for objects to rise, which was a blessing,
as that gave me a chance to warm up. I never got totally warm
though and I felt chilled. Fortunately the wind stopped, but
-20°C is still very cold even without the wind." Doug missed
M74 and M77 in the evening due to trees, and M6, M7, the
Aquarius objects, and the southern Sagittarius globulars in
the morning due to his high latitude and an early marathon.
If the weather cooperates this April, how many Messiers
will you bag from your latitude?

Sgr
GC
COMMENT: Probably needs a scope

6.8

11.2′

18h 24.5m

-24° 52′

M15

6.2

18′

21h 30.0m

+12° 10′

16′

21h

- 00° 49′

M2

Peg
Aqr

GC
GC

Morning twilight rush; on April 5th at latitude 49°N, astronomical twilight
begins at 4:37 a.m. daylight-saving time at the central meridian for your time zone

COMMENT:

M73

Aqr
-
9.0
COMMENT: Asterism; star-hop to M72 from here

3′

20h 58.9m

-12° 38′

M72

9.3

7′

20h 53.5m

-12° 32′

COMMENT:

Aqr
GC
More difﬁcult than M73

M75

Sgr

GC

8.6

7′

20h 06.1m

-21° 55′

M54

Sgr

GC

7.7

12′

18h 55.1m

- 30° 29′

M70

Sgr
GC
7.9
8′
18h 43.2m - 32° 18′
COMMENT: Don't confuse with NGC 6652, which lies between M69 and M70
M69

7.7

10′

18h 31.4m

- 32° 21′

Sgr
GC
COMMENT: Very tough on April 5th

6.3

19′

19h 40.0m

- 30° 58′

M30

7.2

12′

21h 40.4m

-23° 11′

Sgr

GC

M55

¢ Contributing Editor ALAN WHITMAN's bucket list includes
doing a Messier Marathon from southern Arizona.
FURTHER READING: Do you want to report your Marathon
results, or read reports from previous marathons? Visit messier.
seds.org/xtra/marathon/results.html for marathon results dating
back to 1977. Read Doug Wayland's report of his first Messier
Marathon at astrobuysell.com/paul/wayland.htmǤ

6.5

33.5m

COMMENT:

Cap

GC

Not visible

G = galaxy; GC = globular cluster; OC = open cluster; EN = emission nebula; RN =
reflection nebula; PN = planetary nebula; SNR = supernova remnant. Angular sizes
and separations are from recent catalogs. Visually, an object's size is often smaller
than the cataloged value and varies according to the aperture and magnification of
the viewing instrument. Right ascension and declination are for equinox 2000.0.

sk yandtele scope.com * A PR I L 2 019

33
http://www.messier.seds.org/xtra/marathon/results.html http://www.messier.seds.org/xtra/marathon/results.html http://www.astrobuysell.com/paul/wayland.htm http://www.skyandtelescope.com
Sky & Telescope - April 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky & Telescope - April 2019
